Actress
by balai
Summary: You'd think that someone who is so put together all the time, someone who can snap her fingers and have the answer to a question that has certified geniuses sweating at the brow would be able to figure THIS out. But it doesn't always work out that way. ON HIATUS FOR REWRITING.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own the winx club.**

**I thought that these two never quite got enough credit. And though it's not the most...fun or delighting story line, it was one that bit and wouldn't let go until i got this out. So here's my TechnaxTimmy story as part of my Storm and Reconcilliation storyline. And it does fit into Reconcilliation later in the story; i might add more to this later, but for NOW it's a oneshot.**

**I hope you like it.**

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She wasn't unhappy. It wasn't anything like that; it couldn't be, could it? _Logically_, there was no reason for her to be. She had a wonderful job doing exactly what she loved to do and she was _in charge_, she had a beautiful home to return to each day. Her family was mended from its chaotic state that had nearly torn her apart during her last year at Alfea. Even her best friends who she saw often enough were doing wonderfully—Flora and Helia were even getting _married_ within the next few months.

_Married_.

That was why she was so unhappy.

No, Techna _was_ unhappy. She had to admit at least that to herself. She was jealous and the mere fact in and of itself irked her more than anything she thought ever could. Jealousy was a wasted emotion especially when she had such a great life going for herself. Besides, it wasn't even her place to be jealous. She wasn't a spiteful ex or grieving older relative whose dreams of getting married before her younger kin had been cruelly squashed.

She wasn't jealous of _Flora_—Helia did nothing for her. No, that wasn't why Techna was so put out over the whole situation.

It was just the simple fact that Helia had _proposed_. They _were_ getting married. And she wasn't.

Didn't Timmy see how miserable this was making her?

No, he didn't. Timmy hardly _ever_ noticed when anything was wrong. It was as if he expected that since her mother was an android and favored logic and reasoning over the highs and lows of emotions in the world that the same should be said for her. And sure, for most of her life Techna _had_ admittedly taken after her mother in the emotions front, not wanting to speak of them as anything other than an inconvenience, but as she grew into herself…she realized that that was _not_ true, damnit! And still, Timmy wouldn't see it.

Techna wasn't subtle in the least about it, either. After long days working from the office, the pair would grab a taxi together and talk about their day. However, since the both of them worked for the same company—as co-owners, no less—there was not much new to learn. And still, Timmy wouldn't stop gushing over the _production rates_ and _sales goals for the next quarter_. So every day, Techna would sigh too loudly to be ignored, and Timmy would just give her that _odd_ look then say, _"I thought you loved your job, Tech?"_

He always used his 'pet name' for her. Always, except at work. And Techna would roll her eyes and say, _"I __**do**__ love my job, Timmy. But that's why I go to work—to do my job __**there**__ and then come home and not do my job. Otherwise we could run this company from our living room."_

That was simple enough, wasn't it? To have a home life separate from her work life? Not for Timmy. Techna swore sometimes that the man was so thick you could peel away layers upon layers for years at a time and still find yourself up past your ears in misunderstandings and the things that Timmy would never understand.

"_Give it time,"_ her father had told her. _"Give it time,"_ her brother insisted. They both said that things would work themselves out over time, she just had to let it run its natural course. Her mother, however, insisted, _"It's ridiculous that you'd get worked up over something as small as this. At least that __**boy**__ has __**his**__ head in the right place."_ She'd almost wanted to strangle her mother when she'd said that—because she would _never _understand.

But Techna wasn't happy. Not at all. And still, she couldn't find the words to tell him.

--

Techna woke up early. The sun was shining through the glass-paned wall of her spacious bedroom. She stretched her arms over her head in the oversized bed and just laid there a moment, soaking in the pure light from the sky. From the raised platform where her bed rested, she could easily see down into the heart of the city just by leaning forward, yet this morning she couldn't find the energy to. If she lived in her own selfish world of confinement for just a few moments longer, she wouldn't feel quite so left out when she opened her eyes and saw all the lives of the happy people down below.

It was Friday morning already and she was supposed to meet Flora and the other girls in Magix that evening. Not Bloom, however. The thought saddened Techna; she was hoping for a _real_ night out, like they'd had while in Alfea. A real night out with all of them together where they could talk and complain about the men in their lives until the sky turned pink with dawn. All the girls had grown over the summer before their final year and Techna had to admit that she missed Bloom's advice, especially now. Bloom wouldn't hesitate to tell her what she needed to say to pull her relationship with Timmy out of the depths where it'd gotten lodged _eons_ ago. Bloom had her flaws, but Techna would admit that her relationship advice was sound. At least when it came to the two computer fanatics.

They never kissed. They didn't even _sleep_ together anymore!

It was that thought that pushed Techna from her bed. She didn't even care that she was leaving the warm comfort of the blankets for the cold tile floor. No, she was an _android_, right? She didn't _feel_ the cold, right? She didn't need to _feel _anything.

Techna praised the inventor of sarcasm. Then cursed him for bringing such an awful creation to exist. If it wasn't for sarcasm, she figured she wouldn't have such a problem saying what she wanted to.

Techna pulled her robe from the back of the door and pressed the button on the control panel that opened the door with a hiss. She rubbed at her tired eyes and headed towards the kitchen, disregard for the bespectacled specialist evident to anyone who might have seen the exchange.

Timmy blinked in disbelief. Sure, he hadn't said anything, but Techna _always_ said 'good morning' to him, even when he _had_ stayed up all night reconfiguring the computer (she loathed when he did that). He watched her pour herself a cup of coffee and lean against the counter cradling it in her palms and still she didn't even spare him a glance. Odd. Timmy frowned.

"Good morning, Techna," he greeted her, his voice slightly lower than it had been during his school days. The words hardly raised a reaction from her, but he saw her lips twitch. A smile? "Are you okay?"

Finally Techna glanced up from the spotless metal countertop. She gave him a quick onceover, her face revealing no emotion, and forced a quick smile which melted as quickly as it had appeared. "Morning. Fine." She wasn't completely feeling up to the charade she'd strung herself into. It was her own fault, anyhow. _It's not that hard to just tell him you'd like to actually have a __**romantic**__ relationship with him, Techna_, she chastised herself. She blew on her coffee and Timmy frowned.

Surely he could get more than _that_ out of her. "Did you sleep well?" Timmy asked.

Normally, Techna wouldn't have minded a question like that. But it just irked her the way that he was suddenly so concerned. For one reason or another, he'd chosen today to begin this. Techna set her cup down and climbed up onto one of the high chairs around the kitchen counter.

"I slept fine," she replied solidly. She looked over his messy orange hair and shook her head. "Did you stay up all night again?"

He nodded. Straightening his glasses, Timmy said, "I just wanted to make sure everything was running before you left."

"I told you it was fine; I even rewired it myself." She took an agitated sip of her coffee. "Besides, I'm only going to be gone for _six_ hours at the most. It's not like there's going to be a crisis in that amount of time."

"I know, Tech." There it was again with that _bloody_ nick name. Techna bit her tongue. "I just wanted to double check. You know how much time we can lose if something's not one hundred percent functional."

"Timmy," Techna sighed, "Is working all you ever do?"

His eyebrows drew together, confused. "I don't know what you mean?"

Techna shook. "I'm taking the day off; why don't you? Goodness knows you need it." She wracked her brain for some semblance of reasoning. "You could visit Sky or Brandon," she offered calmly. "You know they'd _love_ to see you."

"That'd be nice, Techna, but if I'm there then I wouldn't be able to be _here_ to watch over things."

She hated his ignorant naivety sometimes. Slamming her hand against the table, Techna shook her head. If only she could remember the charm to summon asprin—or better yet, the one to will away an oncoming migraine larger than the Binary Galaxy's security system. "That's the whole point, Timmy."

"I don't mind working," he insisted, as if that cleared up the whole matter.

_I wish you did sometimes_. "There's a fine line between working and working _overtime_ **all **the time." The fairy pushed her cup around the counter, no longer making eye contact with the man who was slowly strangling all her hope.

The silence between them stretched on for what felt to Techna like decades. Her long nails tapped against the surface beneath her hand; a nervous habit she'd picked up from…somewhere over the years. Suddenly the ticking of an old analog clock became too much for her to bear in silence.

"What do you think about the wedding?" Techna asked timidly. Timidity was such an odd thing for her now that she was so rooted in who she was. She was never unsure…except here.

Timmy swiveled around in the chair, his arm laying idly on the armrest. He looked at her in curiosity and yet attentive excitement. "Helia and Flora's? I think it's great!"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's awesome that they're getting married after how long they've been together."

She cocked her head to the side, weighing her options. She chose what she thought might be the slipperier slope, the one that might lead to answers. "We've been together longer."

Timmy nodded enthusiastically. "I know; that's why I think it's so great." He beamed a moment and then turned back around in the chair. Techna balked.

"Why's that?" she finally asked. She didn't understand much of what was coming out of his mouth. It was too scattered.

"Hmm?" He'd already lost the trail of thought.

Techna shook her head. "Never mind." She stood up, picking up the half-full cup and she walked to the sink to dump it out. For the first time in the longest time, she took the precious time to wash the cup out thoroughly, scrubbing every centimeter of the glass until it was too shiny to hold to the light. She couldn't help it, though. Her mind was stuck between that blissful state of emptiness and chaotic thought. She placed the cup back on its shelf and leant against the counter, staring at the man she'd called her boyfriend for nearly seven years.

"Timmy?"

He turned his head slightly, glasses glinting in the morning sun. "Yeah?"

Techna licked her lip and glanced down at her pale legs nervously. She looked back up at him, her head tilting to the side and her expression tensing with insecurity. "Do you…I don't know….ever think about…" –she swallowed back the lump in her throat—"us? Getting married?"

It was out there. No one could say that she didn't give it a try.

Timmy's eyebrows rose and he pouted in consideration, looking around the room with a shrug. "Not really, no." He lifted up a gangly finger and pushed his thick-framed glasses higher on his nose, staring at the pink-haired fairy. "Why?"

Techna, defeated, pushed away from the counter and headed towards their bedroom—_her_ bedroom. "Oh, no reason." She waved a hand behind her and turned her head so he couldn't see the single tear that dripped down her cheek. After all, she was an android. And they were above emotion.

Yeah, she was _very_ happy.

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**Well, i hope you at least thought it was interesting? Feedback?**

**Poor Techna :(**

**xxEcho**


	2. Chapter 2

**Second installment of the no longer a oneshot. **

**This chapter's a little more boring than the previous, it has a lot to do with Techna and Timmy's work. Mostly, it's showing how though she tries, Techna can't really keep her emotions reined in even in a professional environment.**

**Hope it's not dissapointing.**

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Each and every body, android, parasite, and humanoid alike, who sat in the room instantly felt a chill the second Techna's teal eyes narrowed on the bespectacled man who ran the company so gleefully with her, side by side. It wasn't that the air had actually declined in temperature, but with the bite of fury her eyes were showing, the many personnel attending the meeting certainly would have preferred that, which was saying quite a bit for their secretly-parasitic psychic mind residing in the warm depths of her host's body. Androids, who usually were impartial to any form of intimidation beyond that which could severely damage them, even found her anger frightening.

Techna was level headed. Everyone knew that. Timmy knew that it took quite a lot for her to actually show ire at any situation, no matter how grave. She was admired for it, loved for it, and above all her reasonability was why she was so greatly respected among all the workers. Timmy was surprised most out of all.

He opened his mouth just a single fraction, sending Techna off. "You authorized these plans"—her hand shook, no, jerked, scrambling the hologram that the metal tube in her hand sent out—"and you didn't even _mention_ it to me?"

It seemed Timmy was the only one who couldn't tell that her voice was lethally calm and that she was holding back more than just the bitterness she felt at being omitted from his decision committee.

Timmy adjusted his dark-framed glasses on the bridge of his nose and blinked stupidly at Techna, driving her wits even further away from grasp. "You were gone. I assumed you would agree with the plans, Techna; you always do. The logistics team has assured me that the plans are foolproof."

Her face was nearing beet red. "I was gone for less than a day, Timothy! How could you possibly think—the plans aren't foolproof!"

"The Logistics team went over it inch by inch, along with Construction and Wiring. The base will hold down perfectly."

"Sekkumine is crumbling apart. It is literally a barren, hollow shell that happens to have drifted into Zenith's orbit and at any moment could collide and cause mass destruction. The moon is completely volatile and has an irregular pattern and you think that you can stick a whole operations base on it?"

The parasite loved watching the two go neck to neck, even if the gangly boy didn't know it was happening. The android elders, however, were quite appalled by the squabbling. The thought that the future of the company and that the sway of fifty-nine and three quarters percent of the Binary galaxy's people was solely in the hands of the before so straightforward intellectual couple with only progress on their mind who now couldn't agree on a single thing shook them to the core with disdain.

If the pair couldn't come to a common consensus soon, then the public's views would wither and the company's profits would drop, dragging all the status built up down with it and there would be widespread discontentment and upheaval. It had happened once before, during a time only one of the remaining elders could still recall, and it had almost cost all of Zenith to surrender to attacking forces.

Timmy straightened a stack of mundane papers on the chrome table before him—he still received cross-eyed glances for the fact that he had the audacity to carry around such primeval tools. He smoothed a corner of once sheet and then looked up to his business partner (he couldn't call her his girlfriend, not at work. It was just too unprofessional).

"Everything has been thought out. There is plenty of solid matter for the construction site. There are no natural resources, so we'd have to send enough for the building and then restock after all of our people are settled in. But think about it—if we did this, it wouldn't be too much longer before our expansion could reach new heights. We'd have buildings from here to TarineT Ti and satellites beyond there. We'd be able to have someone in to fix a problem within a moment's notice without any trouble at all."

"There is no physical possibility of Sekkumine ground supporting anything," Techna rebuted. "And to add to that, it's impossible to transmit any signals from anywhere in the realms beyond the atmosphere. If we sent someone—anyone—up there, they could die and it would take years for anyone to even have the slightest idea. Technology fails within ninety-thousand feet of the surface and the only way in is with natural magic. Currently, there are four on staff who possess such skills, myself included. Then of course there's the fact that our services wouldn't even pass through the atmosphere to our outreach database. Did you even think about how your plan would fall through before you drew it up?"

Calculating brown eyes suddenly filled with insecurity as Timmy flipped his stack of papers over. "We'd be able to send magically-wired transmitters and we could have our magic-based monitor chips implanted into the worker's bodies. Also, there would be a hired mage specializing in natural magic remedies with the crew at all times. And there are ways around the interference." Truth be told, he hadn't taken into consideration the fact that the technology, once planted there, would be virtually inaccessible.

Eyes of the council members trained on him, Timmy felt his heart drop when Techna still seemed unimpressed by all his careful, meticulous planning. She still stood at the end of the table, arms crossed and eyes sharp as throwing stars with all her out of character anger pointing directly at him. Timmy cleared his throat, clearing his head. "Why are you so opposed to this? The expansion would be good for the company."

She shook her head, pink tendrils of hair falling out of her carefully secured bun. "Expansion is one thing, _this _is something entirely different. We're not talking about a simple trial-and-error relocation project; this is the destruction of an environmentally unsound body that happens to be within our view seventeen out of thirty hours of the day. There would be so many different factors that would need to be considered. We would need consent from all of Zenith consecutively, including the First, Second, Fifth, and Ninth Vectors to even consider taking it to the other moon's officials.

"And then, of course, there is the matter of the immigrated locals who _our company_ ordered evacuation out of their homes. To them, it would not be a simple convenient expansion of usable galaxy-wide services; to them, it would be as if we forced them from their homes _not_ for their safety, but rather for our own devices. The small colony has been here for nine years, sending more and more petitions to the First Vector to legally have them return home. To them, their home isn't just a barren piece of space, it is the home where their deities once roamed and taught their ways to the people. If we were to introduce technology to their home, it would be an outright challenge that the Third Vector has no business in. Are you so ready to expand to an unreachable moon that you would be willing to start a civil war?"

After the words were said, silence stretched through the large room for the longest time in company history. The elders were bought to Techna's side of the argument, not willing to risk estrangement by the higher vectors nor willing to take part in the collapse of the strict order between the Zenians and the Sekkumi people. The VPs of the company, though desperately wanting to expand, for the most part agreed as well and felt there to be no reason to expand on a planet that would be useless to the cause. The parasitic psychic posing as one of the highest respected in the whole company, however, craved the chaos and bloodshed that was sure to come were the Sekkumi to challenge the Zenians for their home. However, when a cause was lost, it was best to be on the winning side.

Timmy's face fell when he realized that all the hype he'd built up over his idea had been squashed within five minutes by the very woman who he'd first stuttered the words 'I love you' to. If she'd been on his side, even if all the VPs were to oppose, then the elders would have been bought and he wouldn't feel like such an idiot. Timmy looked through his thick glasses at Techna, standing erect and still angry, and she refused to meet his eye for what felt like the thousandth time in just that day.

Techna drew in a breath and let her balled fists fall flat against her practical pencil skirt. She brushed away the pink hair which had fallen in her face and met the eyes of each and every person in the room save for the ex-specialist. Though quiet, her voice rung with the authority that, as the first fairy born to an android, had always been hers but she had never exercised.

"Now," Techna said briskly, "The Sekkumine Branch project is terminated. If anyone has any objection, please formally submit it to my secretary. Any future plans regarding such matters must be approved by both Mr. Gale _and_ myself before any movement is put into creating a model, understood?" Techna didn't wait for an answer, not even a nod of agreement from Timmy or a respectful one from the eldest of the council. She picked up her hologram projector and stood sharply, storming out the door while throwing a, "Meeting dismissed" over her shoulder in a growl.

The room cleared out right behind her. Timmy, wide eyed and feeling like he'd gotten the wind knocked out of him, fell into one of the metal chairs liquidly while managing to jam his elbow into the armrest. He winced. He'd thought that his plan was genius; he'd even thought it might have been good enough for Techna to start speaking to him again outside of these horrible meetings.

At just about the same time, Techna's office door whirred open and the moment she was inside she wished that it was a normal door with hinges just so she could slam it shut in frustration. Her piercing glare followed the metal wall that seemed to be creeping at a speed that would make an iceberg reassess its life. It was so slow that she almost didn't keep her head together until it closed. The door closed. Techna screamed out her frustration to the open window.

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**Poor Timmy, so clueless...**

**There should be more, don't know when, but there will be. And they won't all be like this.**

**Any feedback is appreciated.**

**xxEcho**


	3. Chapter 3

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All the king's horses and all the king's men can't put the past together again. So let's remember: Don't try to saw sawdust. -Dale Carneige

Here's part three of Actress. It's a direct follow up, taking place the same day as the last, and about three or four days after the very end of chapter 6 of Reconciliation (as i've said before, they sort of go hand in hand, this one's just Techna-based because she doesn't get enough attention in the show.

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**Chapter 3**

Why the elevator wasn't working was beyond her.

Why the elevator wasn't working was _infuriating _her.

Techna pressed her hand against the scanner again, harder this time. The light on the screen flickered, but didn't scan, and then it beeped and a message appeared above it: _Remove hand and try again_.

"I don't bloody _want_ to try again," she seethed. But still she took her hand and calmly moved it away, flexing her fingers. If it didn't work this time, she'd give up and take the damn _stairs_ because this was just getting ridiculous. She'd designed the device herself; she'd dealt with every last detail herself and even rewired it when the hardware started to glitch out. Why it was acting out now, she had no idea but in all honesty she didn't _care_. (Okay, so she cared a _little_. But only because it was another thing going wrong for her.)

She pressed her palm flat to the screen and in a desperation to be _out _of the suddenly claustrophobic elevator, she channeled her magic only a little (as, on principle, in a society based on the technological advancements rather than magical ones, she usually chose not to use hers) and urged the scanner to work. She reached inside and twisted the circuiting and then after only a second the panel lit up. Her jaw was tense the entire time it took for the scanner to acknowledge her prints and after it beeped she dropped her hand, gripping her briefcase with both bone-white knuckled hands. She licked at her lips and glared at the numbers that changed above the door and cursed them for not going by faster (and that cursing turned into her pushing just a little further into the inner workings of the damn thing, pushing it just a little faster).

When she exited the elevator on the fourteenth floor and stalked out of it, her sharp heels clicking loudly against the floor. Their apartment was one of only five on the floor and yet she'd never taken the time to get to know any of them.

_Screw them_, she thought bitterly. They didn't care for her any more than she did for them.

Techna reached into her purse, pulled out a cigarette, and placed it between her lips. She keyed in a code to the holographic number pad on the wall and pressed her hand to the sensor pad and stood back while the door breezed open. Sometimes she really wished she that things were the way they'd been before—when not everything was automated and things between her and…_him_ weren't so stressed.

Wishing never got her a damn thing in her life, though.

The door closed behind her and she swung her purse onto the kitchen counter, nicked a lighter from the table, and headed out to the balcony off her bedroom—because it couldn't really be considered _his_ anymore. The bloody prat hadn't set foot in that room for months.

The thing that she loved so much about the window in her room was that it took up the whole wall. When it was opened, half the wall moved with it and it was just a huge gap that opened up to the outside. All it was was breathing room and it was so much breathing room that for once she _didn't _feel stressed when it was there. It was, to her, like the whole world opened up to her and she could think clearly for once without worries of remaining within the carefully placed lines that she'd involuntarily built up around herself. They were the very lines that were keeping her exactly where she was in her job and they were the very lines that on some level of her very parallel mind she knew was keeping her from getting anywhere with Ti—_him_ in the rest of her life.

She lit the cigarette and took a drag, blowing the smoke out without even tasting it. _He_ could make a little more of an effort, too, though!

She wasn't even that subtle. It was a mantra and she knew that it wasn't entirely the truth—she wasn't _subtle_, but she wasn't horribly blunt like some skank would be, either (okay, so there'd been that one time…but he hadn't even noticed! She'd been practically slobbering on his fucking neck and he…he'd just nodded and said '_that's great, Tech, I'm almost done here_' without looking away from the gadget he'd been fooling around with and she'd ended up falling asleep on the bed alone in silk lingerie and when she woke up, he was still just _almost done _and it was _still great_).

Unless she was mad at him for something at work, he hardly even noticed her anymore.

"Wow," a rough voice said from off to her left. Techna choked on the inhale of smoke that she'd taken and while she coughed she turned her head to stare at its owner. Musa was huddled in a ball in one of the _uncomfortable_, extremely modern chrome chairs on the balcony and hugging very tightly to the back of it with a half terrified expression adorning her oriental face. "That's some serious mess-age you've got fluttering around in your heart. It's got me buzzed."

The android (that's what she was to the world now, after all) composed herself and placed a hand to her chest as she coughed up the last of the foreign contaminants from her windpipe. "Musa?" she inquired in her refined way. "What on earth are you doing up here—I mean, out here?"

Musa shrugged and her eyes darted to the balcony. "Your elevator kicked me out of the building so I decided to fly up here instead. I was locked out."

Techna glanced down over the side of the ledge to the street lined with hovering cars fourteen stories down. For some reason, she herself got nervous at the thought of having to fly up so high. She leant back against the rail and took in another long drag. "What do you mean the elevator kicked you out?"

Musa's eyes were watching her with wide eyes. "You said I just had to press my hand against the glowing thingy, right?"

She let a small grin out. "More or less."

"Yeah. That didn't work so I hit it with a _really_ low power orb and then it started glowing red and then the next thing I know I'm being blasted from the building out onto the street by _nothing_." That explained why the elevator wasn't working—with no way to interpret them, mixing magic laced with and powered by emotions with technology usually ended up in a high-tech meltdown on the computers end. The short fairy rubbed at her elbow. "Wish they'd had the common sense to put some throw pillows on the sidewalk across the street."

And then she laughed, a genuine laugh that made her feel much less weighed down than she had for the whole day. "Right, that's entirely sensible. After all, so many people are evicted at the doorstep that there's no reason _not_ to have them." Her smile was bright, her teeth were perfectly white, and dimples appeared on her cheeks before they hollowed out with another inhale. She exhaled. "Didn't Timmy key you into the building's security? He'd said he would three days ago."

Finally pushing herself away from the cold chair, Musa stood (her legs shook, which struck Techna as very odd because Musa was the most graceful person she knew) and leant back against the wall, her hands groping the building. "I guess he didn't. I wouldn't blame him, though. He probably just forgot." She'd stepped inside the open glass wall and plopped down on the floor just inside—and suddenly looked much less freaked out.

Techna's face hardened. "I'd blame him."

"I kinda picked that up from the parade of angsty bitterness that you're starring in. I also picked up that you're not talking about the elevator." The girl's blue eyes caught on the lit cigarette for the first time and she frowned. "When did you start smoking?" It wasn't that she'd never done it, it was just a habit so entirely un-Techna that it surprised her.

Techna shrugged nonchalantly. "Some time between then and now." She took the last drag of the thing and then stubbed it out into a self-cleaning ash tray that dissolved the butt once she'd let it go. Techna ran her hand over her pencil skirt, smoothing out the lines, and shrugged. "It's just calming. Nothing too big. Don't tell me that _you're_ going to start moaning at me about it? It'd be awfully hypocritical of you if you did and I don't want to hear it."

"Moody enough, Tech?" This wasn't like her, as long as she'd known the pink-haired woman. She could get snappish, but she'd never…this just wasn't like her. "I was just curious. I'd never pegged you for a smoker."

She was right. Techna's face fell into a frown and she slumped over with her back against the railing as she slid down to the ground. The technology fairy ran a hand over her face and sighed. "I'm sorry Musa. I don't know what got into me." She really didn't. She didn't mean to be so cross…with everyone.

Musa laid down on her stomach and propped her head up on her fists. "I know exactly what's gotten into you. You want me to make you up a list or do you just wanna spill it yourself? Because I'm sensing a _lot_ of denial from you."

Inside, Techna blanched. She was just reading her as if she were a book—and she hadn't even given her permission. She wouldn't have minded so much if she had asked—but she knew that was a lie. And she didn't like lying but even more she didn't like people knowing more about her thoughts than she did. Techna crossed one long leg over the other and stared Musa back in the eyes. "I don't know what you mean. Everything's fine."

"There it goes again." Musa crossed her arms over her chest and her eyes narrowed. "Techna, as your friend, there's a point where denial becomes outright lying. One more time and you're there."

She spoke slowly. "Everything's. Fine." She started picking at the hem of her skirt, her brows drawn together in frustration. "If it wasn't fine, Timmy would realize that something was wrong. Wouldn't he?"

The door to the bedroom whizzed open and the orange-haired specialist in question lanked in with a smile on his face—_he'_d apparently gotten over the ordeal in the conference room; Techna was still holding the grudge. Timmy straightened his glasses and gave a pleasant greeting to Musa, who waved her fingers in return with only the slightest fraction of a forced smile upon her lips (nope, she was focused). He turned to Techna—this was the farthest into the room that he'd been since…the last night they'd been together. (The thought stopped her flat and the blood in her head went cold; was it something she'd _done_? Oh dear Circuits, she really hoped that wasn't the case.)

"Hey Tech," Timmy said happily enough. She thought back to their conversations since that night, just because it was on her mind, and she realized…no, he wasn't acting any different; he'd always just acted like Timmy always. So then why?

Techna turned her head away from his gaze. No matter the reason, she wanted things to be different. And no matter why they were the way they were, she almost wasn't sure she wanted to fix them because she wasn't sure if _Timmy_ wanted to. "Timmy," she said back coldly. Timmy didn't pick up on the bitter edge of her voice, but the resident musical fairy heard it like drums and whistles beating in an amphitheatre the size of Sparx.

Timmy held up a small computer chip and pointed his thumb in the direction of where he'd come from. "I'm gonna work on the contract with Byrite in the office, if that's alright with you."

Her lips were pursed together. "That's fine, Timmy."

"Great!" He smiled broadly at her and turned to take his leave, but then stopped at the doorway. "Oh, Musa, I almost forgot; Stella called. She said she needed to see you tomorrow about the wedding plans and to meet her at the Inter-Realm transportation Station in Magix around eleven."

The loud snap reverberated throughout the room. Musa looked over at Techna, holding in her hand pieces of the gleaming lighter she'd demolished within her _grasp_ seconds ago, and then glanced back at the ex-Specialist. "Thanks, Tim." That was his cue to leave—he heard it in Musa's voice and he knew from all the years they'd known eachother that when she got that tone she really _would_ back it up. Timmy left and the door sealed behind him. "I guess that answers your question, then," she said softly.

Techna glanced down at her hand, strained from her fingers to her forearm, and she lessened her grip on the broken lighter, the larger pieces falling away easily and they clanked against the floor. She held her hand before her face, not picking out the shards like Musa thought she'd do, but simply _staring_ at the damaged, bleeding flesh with intense concentration that scared the blue-haired fairy.

The two fairies' eyes met across the room, Musa's blue eyes burning in concern for her friend and for all the pent up grievances seeping out of her, Techna's teal eyes were hard like a mirror that was only beginning to crack.

"I'm bleeding," Techna whispered so quietly Musa's ears had to strain to hear it. She'd said it so plainly that the musical princess wasn't sure quite what to make of it. "Timmy…he acts as if I'm _all_ android. But androids don't bleed red." A single tear fell from her eye. "Do you think he'd love me if I were?"

Outside of the room, Timmy pulled his ear away from the door and frowned. Musa offered up some form of reply but he didn't pay any attention to it. He hadn't meant to listen in; he was just going back in there to check with Techna on one of the last minor details before he started typing up the Byrite contract. He felt bad about the issue in the conference room earlier that day and he didn't want to upset her again—he never did; he didn't always understand her, though. He hadn't meant to listen but he had. He stood frozen outside the door, silent as death. He had no idea what to make of what she'd said.

Because…he'd thought that things between them truly were still good.

But it seemed that from her point of view, he was dead wrong.

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**More chapters to come soon. Heck, there might even be an actual _PLOT_ established here soon (gasp!).**

**Please leave your thoughts, comments, concerns, and/or ceremonial chickens with the 'review' button below :)**

**xxEcho**


	4. Chapter 4

When the ivy has found its tower, when the delicate creeper has found its strong wall, we know how the parasite plants grow and prosper.  
-Anthony Trollope

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**Chapter 4.**

Kill the human and the mind, the body, the _power_ can live forever.

Kill the _humanity_, kill the soul,

destroy the _love_

and the vessel is a battery that will last _forever_.

Never have to die again.

It's pure admiration. The android should be flattered.

From all the carcasses in the entire world…

I'm choosing _her pied-à-terre_ to be my home forever.

That is truly an honour.

-Parasite.

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**I know it's short. Just reminding you all that I haven't died. I've been very busy trying to get on track to graduate. But as it is coming up on summer soon, this might actually go somewhere. And GASP, looks like we found the plot. The nifty one I was talking about at the end of the last chapter? Yep, that's the one.**

**Please leave your comments and critiques.**

**Echo.**


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